Russia recruiting US-trained Afghan commandos to fight in Ukraine, former generals say
- Elite Afghan commandos reportedly being offered US$1,500 a month and promises of safe havens
- Many of the commandos fled to Iran after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year
Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic US withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals told Associated Press.
They said the Russians want to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos into a “foreign legion” with offers of steady, US$1,500-a-month payments and promises of safe havens for themselves and their families so they can avoid deportation home to what many assume would be death at the hands of the Taliban.
“They don’t want to go fight – but they have no choice,” said one of the generals, Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, adding that the dozen or so commandos in Iran with whom he has texted fear deportation most. “They ask me: ‘Give me a solution. What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us’.”
Arghandiwal said the recruiting is led by the Russian mercenary force Wagner Group. Another general, Hibatullah Alizai, the last Afghan army chief before the Taliban took over, said the effort is also being helped by a former Afghan special forces commander who lived in Russia and speaks the language.
The Russian recruitment follows months of warnings from US soldiers who fought with Afghan special forces that the Taliban was intent on killing them and that they might join with US enemies to stay alive or out of anger with their former ally.
A Republican Party congressional report in August specifically warned of the danger that the Afghan commandos – trained by US Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets – could end up giving up information about US tactics to Islamic State, Iran or Russia – or fight for them.